Knife guard for slicing machines



Sept. 4, 1951 J. w. LuBBl-:RHUIZEN 2,566,574

KNIFE GUARD FOR SLICING MACHINES Filed Aug. 6,"1947 2 sheets-snaai 1 Filed Aug. 6, 1947 Sept 4, 1951 J. w. LUBBERHUIZEN 2,566,574v

KNIFE GARD FOR SLICING MACHINES 2 sheets-shea 2 Patented Sept. 4, 1951 KNIFE GUARD FOR SLICING MACHINES Jan Willem Lubberhuizen, deceased, late of Voorburg, Netherlands, by Dina Aleida Broekhuizen, executrix, Voorburg, Netherlands, assignor to U. S. Slicing Machine Company, Inc., a corporation of Indiana.

Application August 6, 1947, Serial No. 766,831 In the Netherlands January 23, 1942 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires January 23, 1962 3 Claims. (Cl. 14S-102) rihis invention relates, in general, to slicing machines embodying a rotatable slicing knife, but more specifically to the knife guard, and one of the objects of the invention is to improve the slicing machine both hygienically as Well as with respect to the means for guarding or protecting Vthe cutting edge of the knife.

Vsuitable fastening devices, through the medium of legs disposed on opposite sides of the'knife. Such an arrangement has many objections and "defects, some of which are that the shreds or 'crumbs of meat or product being sliced, fall oif and are slung in all directions, being caught by the knife guard, and they settle and accumulate firmly upon the guard or jacket.

Furthermore, to clean the guard or to remove the particles therefrom, necessitates a removal of -the'guard which is not only a tedious, but also a time-consuming operation. For these and other reasons, the inside of the guard is generally cleaned only at long intervals, with the result that putrefaction and bacteria nests frequently develop. It frequently happens that When such a guard is removed, through negligence or otherwise it is not replaced, and the machine will be operated Without the knife guard, which may result in injuries to the operator.

in order to overcome these and other undesirable features and disadvantages, the present invention is designed in such a manner that the guard Will cover the cutting edge only in radial directions, but not inthe axial direction oi the circular knife. To that end, the-knife guard may consist of a hoop or rim, Which as a whole lies exteriorly of the knife circuit, or beyond the confines of the cutting edge ofthe knife, and may have a fiat or elongated cross section, for example, a simple rectangular crossk section, the longer axis of which extends parallel' to the axis-of the knife, or it may have a round, circulan-or polygonal cross section.

With such a constructionit is possible, with slight effort, to keep the inside or face of the guard that is adjacent the knife edge, clean, as the foreign deposits may be readily removed. The inside of the knife guard is readily accessible both from the front side as Well as from the rear of the circular knife, so that the cleaning can be accomplished Without detaching the knife guard. This renders it possible toI clean the knife guard at frequent intervals, with very little difficulty and Without necessitating dismantling any of the parts of the machine or knife guard, and the consequent re-attachment or re-adjusting of such parts.

In machines which are equipped with an adjustable slice thickness stop or gage, the knife guard, in accordance with the principles of this invention, may be connected withthe adjustable gage or stop plate. This renders-it possible to move or adjust the knife guard for cleaning purposes, in a direction crosswise of the knife, byadjustingthe stop or gage plate, and thereby rendering the inner surface of the protective rim or guard more easily accessible.

To the attainment of these ends, and the accomplishment of other new and useful objects as Will appear, the invention consists in the features of novelty in substantially the construction, combination and arrangement of the several parts,

hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and shown in the accompanying drawingsexemplifying this invention, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational AView of a slicing machine embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan viewof Fig. 1.

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are detail sectional views of `different forms of the protecting rim or guard.

The circular knife i, with its shaft *2, issupported in the frame 3. The carriage i for the product to be sliced is mounted to run upon guides or slides 6, l, and the carriage is adapted to be reciprocated With respect to the knife by means of a suitable handle 5. The knife l isactuated by the reciprocatory movement ,of the carriagepreferably by means of a drive bar or member 8, connected to the carriage, and this baractuatesa crank 9 rotatable in a vertical plane. The crank, which is supported upon the machine frame, has connected therewith a threaded'or rack bar i which engages aV gear li that is coupled With the knife shaft in any suitable manner, suchas by meansof a drive chain (not shown). The details of this construction are shown more clearly in the Van Berkel Patent No.y 1,954,605.

To determine thethickness of the'slices to be out, there is provided astop plate or gage plate I 2, which is adapted to be adjusted transverse to the cutting plane of the knife in any suitable manner, and by means of an adjusting hand crank I3, arranged in any suitable position, prefzoidal.

3 erably on the side of the machine which is turned away from the knife. For moving the article to be sliced against the stop or gage plate i2, there may be provided a pusher member Ill, which slides on a bar or track Ida fastened to the carriage l.

In order to protect the operator from becoming injured by the rotating knife I, there is provided a knife guard I5, which covers the edge of the knife, with the exception` of a portion of the knife edge in the cutting zone. This guard preferably consists of a substantially hoopshaped member I5, which, in the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is formed of an annularly bent, fiat bar, rectangular in cross section, and constructed of any suitable material.

This form of guard is shown in cross section, on an enlarged scale, in Fig. 6, and is held in position in any suitable manner such as by means I6, I1, in the form of screws, and is secured to the adjustable gage or slice-regulating stop plate I2 in a manner that its flat lying end is fastened to the upper edge ofvthe plate I2, by means of the screw I6, while its lower end is shaped to form an eye, into which the bolt or screw I'I passes and is fixed at the foot of the plate I8.

As the guard I5 is connected with the stop or gage plate I2, the guard will participate in the adjustment movements of the plate I2. The knife guard is of a widththat the fiat hoop portion, with its transverse sectional axis, runs parallel with the knife shaft 2, and is of a width that it will cover the cutting edge of the knife in any possible position of the stop or gage plate.

The present knife guard differs basically from previous knife guards, in that it screens or protects the cutting edge of the knife only in a radial direction, but not in an axial direction of the circular knife. For the cleaning or removal of the adhering foreign particles, the inside of the knife guard is readily accessible from both the front side as well as vthe rear side of the knife I, thereby rendering the cleaning thereof very easy. This cleaning can also be done by reason of the fact that the guard I5 can be shifted crosswise or laterally with respect to the knife, by adjusting the plate I2, whereby the entire inner surface of the guard will be made readily accessible. Instead of fastening the guard to the stop or slice-regulating plate I2, it may be fixed or connected to some other part of the machine, for instance, to the machine frame.

The guard I5 may be vof any desired shape in cross section, such as a polygonal cross section I5a, as shown in Fig. 3, in a manner that its sectional half facing the knife is somewhat trape- In contrast, the outer half of the cross section is substantially triangular.

As shown in Fig. 4, the guard I5b may be circular or round in cross section, or the cross section may be of an oval or elliptical shape.

In Fig. 5, the guard I5c shows the rim of a flattened bowl-like cross section. This form is likewise suitable for such cases where the guard is connected to the adjustable stop or slice-regulating plate.

This improved knife guard is applicable to machines of different kinds from the one set forth in the present exemplication of the invention, and particularly to machines that are not provided with stop or adjustable slice-regulating plates..

While the preferred forms of the invention have been herein shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction, and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed as new is:

l. A slicing machine embodying a rotatable circular slicing knife, a slice thickness gage plate, means for adjusting said plate transverse to the cutting plane of the knife, an annular guard for vthe cutting edge of the knife, the ends of said guard terminating short of each other to provide an exposed cutting zone for the knife edge, and means securing the ends oi' the guard to said plate in spaced relation with respect to each other, said guard being disposed entirelj7 beyond the confines of the cutting edge of the knife, and projecting beyond opposite faces of the knife.

2. A slicing machine embodying a rotatable circular slicing knife, a guard for the knife edge, the ends of the guard terminating short of each other to expose a portion of the knife to provide a cutting zone for the knife, an adjustable slice thickness gage member, and means at the ends of said knife guard for securing the knife guard to said gage member, said guard being disposed entirely beyond the confines of the cutting edge of the knife and extending beyondthe knife on both sides thereof, said guard being adjustable with said gage member and adapted to be selectively and entirely moved into a plane beyond the lateral faces of the knife, and on either side of the knife.

3. A slicing machine embodying a rotatable circular slicing knife, a guard for the knife edge, the ends of the guard terminating short of each other to expose a portion of the knife, to provide a cutting zone for the knife, an adjustable slice thickness gage member, and means for securing the ends of said guard to said gage member whereby the knife guard is movable with said gage member, said guard being entirely disposed radially beyond the confines of the cutting edge of the knife and extending beyond the knife on both sides thereof, the said exposed portion of the knife beingdisposed in proximity to the said gage member.

DINA ALEIDA BROEKHUIZEN, Executrx of J an Willem Lubberhuz'zen, Deceased.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

